Roooaarr....Dinosaur Party

If you follow me on facebook, you saw that I posted a little sneak peek of a dino party that a good friend and I put together for her daughter's 3rd birthday. Her little girl is TOTALLY into dinosaurs right now and it was the perfect thing! My friend and I always love to work together on the kids parties and normally plan and go shopping together etc. This time, she had been putting in a lot of hours at work and on the day that we were supposed to go shopping (the day before the party) or at least get together, she calls me and tells me that she is going back in to work after she had already been there that morning! I was like "WHAT"??

But she had to get some rest right? So she decided to go the morning of the party! We stayed on the phone texting and sending pictures to make sure that we got the right stuff that would work. She called when she got back to her house and that's when I went over to help her get things together. Low and behold, we pulled it off!!!

Here are the photos!

 Here was the invite that we designed to invite all the guests to the roaring party!

 The birthday girl striking a pose above and below!

 And then this HAPPENED!!!

You could tell that they were having loads of fun!

Skipping town for part of the day

I woke up SUPER tired this morning. My daughter was giving me a hard time because she didnt want to wear a pair of shoes that are brand new (she picked them out and they are going to become too small soon). I am sure my tiredness made me a bit more irritable. We finally got that settled and then it was on to her hair and all I heard was a bunch of winning "ow, Waah, that hurts....". I was barely brushing her hair! Maybe she was a bit grumpy and tired too. I finally got everything done to send her on her way to school.

So yes, I am skipping town for the day. Well, I do have to come back at some point.... One of my best friends is getting married tomorrow, so we are heading to her parents lake house to do some wedding prep for her big day tomorrow! Love being on the water and even more, helping with a celebration! I hope you all have a wonderful Friday and a fabulous weekend!!

~Crystal

A Late Inspiration

I have been posting some of the inspiration Monday quotes on my facebook page. Thought I would share here :-)

I have always love Maya Angelou! She was one bright cookie, that had the best words for everything. There was so much life, truth and beauty in her poems! I chose this one because I know many people struggle with the definition of success.

There is so much in society that tries to mold us to think that we have to something a certain way in order for us to be successful. Or if we don't do something like someone else that has done something similar, then our way is wrong. Totally not true. When we follow those myths, we end up on a road of feeling like a failure, feeling like we are not good enough, and like we will never rise to the top one day.  We need to become happy with the way we do things and believe that we are different and we are unique so we should like how we do things. Embrace the beauty and the uniqueness that is YOU! Love WHO you are and let your light shine bright. Who cares what anyone else thinks. If you are seeking advice or critiquing, that is one thing, but be true to yourself and love how you do things. It frees you to be who you were created to be!

So lately written,
~Crystal

Inspiration Monday

Welcome to Inspiration Monday!

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend! Its a new week to make great things happen and we can choose to run this week otherwise the week is going to run us!

Today's inspirational quote is one that I come back to time and time again. Well not really come back to it, it is something that I practice. "When things get hectic, focus on being calm". It is such a good one and oh my goodness it is so true.

I can relate to this all so well. My mind is always thinking of something creative. If I dont watch it, it will start to go on over load thinking of all kinds of things. Whether its work, going back to school, what I am cooking for dinner, where I have my next meeting, how to help others, fundraisers, working out, encouraging people, cleaning, playing with daughter, reading for inspiration, pretty designs, and much much more. We all have lots going on and our minds can become cluttered with all the thoughts and our minds can become cluttered with all the actual clutter that we see on a day to day basis, if we havent had a chance to go and clean it.

One thing that works for me is to try and be still for a while. I will wake up early before anyone else in the house (normally everyday) and get a cup of hot tea or coffee and sit on the sofa. I will cut a lamp or 2 on and open my patio door and listen to the peacefulness of a new morning. I will also start to read my daily devotions and just soak in the quietness for about a good 20 - 30 minutes or so. It works wonders. Focusing on being calm instead of just continuing the day with the craziness from yesterday.

Another thing that I try to do is make sure when I go to bed at night that my living areas and kitchen are extremely tidy and clean. It creates so much peace when you wake up in the morning! It starts your day calmly and gives you a head start on a great day. Even if I may stomp my feet at night to go make sure all that is done, it has become a staple for me now because I know what kind of mornings I love!

Yoga is great too to just focus on being calm :-)

Hope you make this week a great and calm week!

~Crystal~

{New Monday Theme} Inspiration Monday

I started thinking over the weekend about how I love to inspire people and just create positive vibes all around me. I also like sharing little inspiration images that I create on my facebook page in hopes to at least inspire someone that maybe having a down day. So I came up with doing Inspiration Monday. Every Monday, I will share some inspiration with you!

There are so many people that just hate Mondays. I personally love them because I look at it as it being a new day to a new week to try again to get things done or to keep pressing forward and work for new things. Its a new start and I am choosing to embrace it.

Here is the inspiration for today:

There are many people that just float through life wishing away the days. As soon as one day comes in they are ready for it to be night time so that day can be over. That is not a way for us to live. We should be passionate about life and find our true passion. Do what we absolutely love doing. Even when that seems impossible, start small. One step at a time and always dream big. Dont have a mindset for little dreams. Have a mind set for big dreams.

Dont for once let that negative thinking settle in and think that you will never get there or be afraid to dream. Dont let one little disappointment determine how you live the rest of your life! You were made to accomplish great things - not the same things as your neighbor - but great things in your own way.

I hope you have a great Monday and an AMAZING week!

{Finally} Constance's 5th Lalaloopsy Birthday Party

Last year my daughter was OBSESSED with the Lalaloopsy dolls. Actually ever since they first came out. When they first came out, I couldn't understand what was so cool about them. Here were these dolls with extremely tiny legs and a huge hard plastic head and hard plastic hair. And they didn't do anything! Little by little I realized their little stories and cute names and then I fell in love with them too. Well not like my daughter did, but I thought they were pretty cute and LOVED the different catchy little names.

It was only fitting to give Constance a Lalaloopsy birthday party right??

Here is the invite that I designed.

 The Birthday Girl!

I had my good friend make this shirt for her and found the skirt on the clearance section at Kmart. Shoes are from the converse outlet and I made the headband.

 

These were favor tag labels that went on mini gable boxes.

I made each child a coloring book.

Found these converse sneakers to go along with the colors that we were using. The inside was the bright green color. I looks yellow in the picture.

Printing of all the party stationery

I had gotten this HUGE piece of cardboard from my previous job and drew this tree from the movies in lalaloopsy land. Then I painted it.

Party prep

Frames for the girls to decorate with buttons.

Number 5 for the front door.

Cute matching headband that I made to coordinate with everything.

Time flies by so fast! Here are a few photos through out the past years

Here at the party the girls were at work coloring in their coloring books!

Then we had story time with a lalaloopsy book.

Had the cake done at Publix. Told them that I wanted little buttons all over the cake and gave them fabric swatches of the colors.

Here they are at work making cute little button frames for their pictures that they will take individually by the lalaloopsy land tree.

Cute packaging for lolipops

I had a friend make super cute chunky necklaces for all the little girls when it was time to open presents. Having a little gift for your party guests helps with making them feel special when the birthday girl is opening her presents. They also sit pretty still too.

After the party was over!

This year's party theme will be BARBIE and we are excited!